I think the episode does consciously point towards this problem. Kara starts out claiming that Leoben is a thing, a "toaster", without a soul, something her gods could not possibly care about because it is an evil machine, not a sentient being like herself. She ends up praying for his soul, and even before that, we can see during the last time he's in the water bucket, that by this point she has become disgusted with herself (the way she tells the guards to let him up again). Moreover, the episode refuses to justify the torture by letting Kara discover something crucial through it - which is the big argument always used in the rethorical "if a terrorist could tell you about a ticking bomb" scenario. The only intel she gets is about herself, and something Leoben intends to tell her before she ever starts with the interrogation - that they're going to find Kobol.
Otoh, the ambiguity is also maintained by not letting the Cylon interrogated be someone like Boomer (either one) whom we know and like (presumably), but Leoben, who is explicitly shown to be unrepentant about the genocide. I think that's the challenge - to recognize that torture is wrong not just when it's applied to nice people one can identify with but to people who do in fact present a danger, who are unrepentant killers.
The difference between humans and Cylons, so far, seems to be that humans are capable of empathy. (Both Boomers are capable of feeling for the men they're having sexual relationships with, and the same is true for Six, but we've yet to see a Cylon feel sympathy for a human being outside that parameter, unless you see what Six does to the baby in the miniseries as a mercy killing.) With others, with people not their friends. And if they're giving that up, then there is indeed no moral difference in the long term...
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-02-27 06:48 am (UTC)Otoh, the ambiguity is also maintained by not letting the Cylon interrogated be someone like Boomer (either one) whom we know and like (presumably), but Leoben, who is explicitly shown to be unrepentant about the genocide. I think that's the challenge - to recognize that torture is wrong not just when it's applied to nice people one can identify with but to people who do in fact present a danger, who are unrepentant killers.
The difference between humans and Cylons, so far, seems to be that humans are capable of empathy. (Both Boomers are capable of feeling for the men they're having sexual relationships with, and the same is true for Six, but we've yet to see a Cylon feel sympathy for a human being outside that parameter, unless you see what Six does to the baby in the miniseries as a mercy killing.) With others, with people not their friends. And if they're giving that up, then there is indeed no moral difference in the long term...